Best Juicy Dumplings (2012)

If you're among the few remaining Angelenos who haven't made their way to the San Gabriel Valley, you're sorely missing out. Luscious Dumplings is one of the few restaurants that lives up to its name. With no more than nine tables, it's family-owned and -operated. The handmade pot stickers sport comfortably crispy underbellies, while the boiled versions are plump with the perfect ratio of dough and stuffing. But the real winner at Luscious is the chive, egg, shrimp and pork combination. Each ball of dough comes stuffed with a heady mix of aromatic pork and egg, fine slivers of chives and chopped pieces of shrimp. Dip it all in a mixture of soy sauce and zingy ginger shavings for a legitimately Chinese and extremely cheap meal. (A new branch is set to open this month in Monrovia.) 704 W. Las Tunas Drive, Ste. 4, San Gabriel. (626) 282-8695, lusciousdumplings.com.